Florida Drops Slightly In Annual Kids Count

Saturday

Sep 29, 2012 at 12:01 AMSep 30, 2012 at 12:50 AM

Florida's children continue to fare worse than those in most other states for overall well-being, according to the latest national Kids Count study that measures things like infant mortality, teen births and poverty.

By ERIC PERATHE LEDGER

LAKELAND | Florida's children continue to fare worse than those in most other states for overall well-being, according to the latest national Kids Count study that measures things like infant mortality, teen births and poverty.Overall, the state ranked 38th, down from 36th place last year, in the national study.Polk County worsened in poverty, mirroring a state and national trend, but saw improvement in infant mortality, teen births and high school dropout rates.The study by the Annie E. Casey Foundation does not rank counties but does provide data for comparisons with some of the state numbers.New Hampshire continues to top the list as the best state for child well-being, followed by Massachusetts and Vermont. The three states at the bottom are Nevada at 48th place, followed by New Mexico and Mississippi.Over the past decade Florida has improved steadily in several key measures or indicators that researchers have grouped into four domains: economic well-being, education, health, and family and community.This year's report expands state-level data from 10 to 16 indicators of well-being, making year-to-year comparisons inexact but providing a better view of how children are faring, said Susan Weitzel, Florida Kid Count director and researcher at the University of South Florida's department of child and family studies."No matter how we slice our information we're still in the same range in terms of rankings," she said.Children fared worse overall in economic well-being, with Florida ranking 44th among the 50 states. Twenty-three percent of the state's children — 924,000 — live in poverty compared with 18 percent in 2005, an increase of 28 percent.Polk's percentage of children in poverty is higher than the state average, representing 39,251 children, or 28.3 percent. These are 2010 numbers, the most recent available for the Kids Count survey, which was released July 25The stress that goes hand-in-hand with poverty is a real concern for any community trying to improve the well-being of its children, said Daniel Haight, director of the Polk County Health Department."The kids living in poverty, how do they access health care or take in some of these educational issues when there's a lot of stress at home?" he said. "It's a challenge."Despite a dismal ranking of 38th in the health domain, Florida saw gains in some key indicators, including a 28 percent drop in children without health insurance and a 13 percent reduction in teens who abuse alcohol and drugs.While more children have access to health care, Weitzel said, there remain over half a million Florida children without any form of health coverage, which impacts critical aspects of a child's life, such as school readiness and attendance."We have some solutions out there," she said. "It takes money, and it takes concentration on an area that we know makes a difference."According to Weitzel, 65 percent of the state's fourth-graders are not proficient in reading and 72 percent of eighth-graders are not proficient in math."The effects of poverty are compounded by years of under-investment in systems like education and health care, affecting the opportunity that children have to thrive," she said.Slight gains in education indicators placed Florida 35th, the same ranking as in the family and community domain.Among the largest changes were gains in the number of high school students graduating on time, more fourth-graders reading at proficiency levels and fewer teen births.Polk's teen birth rate was 46.4 births per 1,000 females ages 15 to 19, a precipitous drop of 30 percent from 2006 when there were 66.6 births per 1,000 teens.The state rate for the same time period dropped from 43.5 births per 1,000 girls to 32.1 births per 1,000 girls, a 26 percent reduction.Haight credited community partnerships such as Polk's Teen Pregnancy Prevention Alliance, "which includes the School Board, the Health Department, churches, medical providers and many others" for the decline.Additionally, Haight said, "the lower rate has a lot to do with the teen looking out for their future by focusing on their education now and starting a family later."

[Eric Pera can be reached at eric.pera@theledger.com or 863-802-7528.]